My wife and I are looking to purchase a house in Toddington and are in fact using a Toddington conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barclays Direct have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Toddington lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Toddington lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Toddington is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Toddington are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Toddington you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Toddington may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

How difficult is it to change conveyancer as I have to select a firm on the Aldermore conveyancing list. I had appointed a local conveyancing solicitor in Toddington round the corner but the firm is not accepted by Aldermore

We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Toddington on the Aldermore panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we work with do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Toddington. Using the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this website, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Toddington.

We're FTB’s - had an offer accepted, but the estate agent has warned us that the owners will only move forward if we use their recommended conveyancers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Toddington

We suspect that the owner is unaware of this request. If they require ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is going to damage their objectives. Try to communicate with the owners directly and make sure they understand (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to instruct your preferred Toddington conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will earn the estate agent a referral fee or meet his conveyancing targets demanded by senior management.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Toddington with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Toddington can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ conveyancers.
If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Toddington state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer first. Many freeholders or managing agents in Toddington levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Toddington.

I inherited a basement flat in Toddington, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Toddington with over 90 years remaining are worth £185,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2087

With just 61 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £19,000 and £22,000 as well as costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.